The boy, accused of committing a shooting at a school in Perth’s northern suburbs, has been released on bail but will not go home.
The 15-year-old, whose name has not been released, appeared in Perth Children’s Court on Wednesday afternoon for a bail hearing.
Magistrate Alana Padmanabham ordered the boy to be examined by a psychiatrist during a brief appearance on Tuesday. It was executed on Wednesday morning, before being verbally delivered to the court that afternoon.
The psychiatrist said her assessment showed the boy posed no danger to the community or to herself.
However, she noted that he had mental health needs that required treatment, and that treatment can be adequately addressed in a prison setting.
Dramatic bodycam footage showed an officer forcing the 15-year-old boy, believed to be WA’s first school shooter, to the ground
The 15-year-old (pictured), whose name has not been released, appeared in Perth Children’s Court on Wednesday afternoon for a bail hearing
Ms Padmanabham decided that while the boy would not be released into the care of his parents, he would be placed in the care of a bail bond until his next trial on 12 July.
He’s also given a 24-hour curfew as part of his bail conditions, which means he’s not allowed to leave the hostel.
The magistrate said it was not a criticism, but rather she was concerned about their ability to supervise him.
Prosecutor Brad Hollingsworth strongly opposed bail because the alleged crimes were ‘extremely serious’ and the potential risk to the community was ‘too great’.
But Ms Padmanabham noted that ‘a child has a qualified right to bail’ and she could not deny him bail despite the serious nature of the crimes.
WA Police charged the boy with seven offenses following the incident on Wednesday.
Police allege he fired three gunshots into the parking lot of Atlantis Beach Baptist College in Two Rocks, a suburb in northern Perth.
Two of the three shots pierced the side of a demountable classroom, which at the time contained a student and a member of staff, but no one was injured.
Mr Hollingsworth also gave more details on Wednesday about the alleged incident and a triple-0 call the boy made in the moments after the shooting.
Police have carried out a preliminary analysis of the boy’s phone and Mr Hollingsworth told the court that Snapchat messages between the boy and a friend indicated he intended to ‘shoot down the school’ and ‘kill people’.
Magistrate Alana Padmanabham was concerned about his parents’ ability to supervise him. In the photo, the boy’s parents leave court last week
One had a picture of the boy and the French phrase ‘quelque choose de sinister’ – ‘something sinister’ in English.
The search engine history reportedly found in the weeks leading up to the shooting revealed that he had asked questions about things like “do people get solitary confinement for shooting” and what the education was like in juvenile detention.
It was also revealed in court that the boy’s mother had unenrolled him from Atlantis Beach Baptist College via email on May 23 — the day before the alleged shooting.
He had missed several days of school leading up to May 24.
More details about the triple-0 call were also revealed; Hollingsworth said the boy called emergency services immediately after the shooting, spoke calmly, claimed he had ‘200 rounds’ of ammunition and did not know if he had injured anyone.
Asked if he intended to hurt anyone else, he said ‘no more’, Mr Hollingworth told the court.
“He’s calm, he’s cool, he’s collected, he certainly hasn’t gone on a rampage and is going on like someone mentally unwell,” Mr Hollingsworth described the phone call.
“He doesn’t yell, he doesn’t say things that don’t make sense.”
The boy has been held at Banksia Hill Juvenile Detention Center since his arrest last Wednesday and appeared in court via video link due to ongoing problems at Banksia Hill making it difficult to transport detainees.
The riots of recent months have significantly damaged the center’s infrastructure, and a persistent shortage of prison guards exacerbates the problem.
Officers enter through the school’s main entrance and proceed to a demountable classroom that has been hit by a bullet
The boy will remain in Banksia Hill in the meantime, as the bail inn he has been assigned to had no available space at the time of the bail hearing.
The shooting shut down the school for about an hour, with the college partially closed until normal classes resumed on Monday.
Outgoing WA Prime Minister Mark McGowan held a media conference outside the school on Thursday after touring the college.
He said there were too many guns in WA and talked about proposed gun law reforms he announced in April.
He said if passed it would make WA’s gun laws “the strictest in Australia”.